Time-controlled actuating device



Feb. (1, M23

H. G; DAVIS TIME CONTROLLED ACTUATING DEVICE Filed Mar. 22 1920 2aheets-sheet l m 7 A w W -,sheet 2,

sheets H G. IDAVllS TIME CONTROLLED ACTUATING DEVICE Feb. U, W230 llatented v l 'eb. Ell, 9E3.

, Hanna e. Davis, on rnrnannrrrrra, rmrne'rtvanra, assrenoa "ro enonon iCAJMUPBELL,OFIJPHILADELPHIM, rnnivsrrvnnrn.

'rrirris-coniriaonrnn aornrrrrivsnnvron.

Application filed March as, read. serial no. aeaasa To all whom it mayconcern:

Be it known that l, HARRY Gr. DAVIS, a citizen of the United bit-ates,residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in'lTime-Controlled Actuating Joe-vices, of which the following is aspecification My invention relates to auton'iatic cut oil' for valves,and particularly to time controlled mechanism, by which the valvesautomatically actuated at the terminationot a predeterminedperiod oftime.

Theobject oi the invention isto simplify the structure as Well as themeans and mode of operation of such devices, whereby they Willdnotonlybe cheapened in construction, butivill be more er'licient in use,automatic in operation,positivein action, easily and readily set andcontrolled, and unlilrelyto .get out of repair. l N

A further object of theinvention is to provide a mechanism 01": thischaracter in which the setting operation will aiiordthe necessaryactuating power.

' A further object. of the invention is to mechanism will be relievedfrom or excessive strains. i

Witl rthe above primary and other incl-- dental. objects in view as willmore full 7 apabnormal pear inthe Specification, the invention 0011-."slsts 01" the features of construction, the

parts and combinations thereof, and the mode .01. operation or theirequivalents ashereint after described and set forth in the claims.

somewhat diagrammatic in character illi illustrates a modification."

' moment of its releas ,Fig. 3 is an end ole .vation of'tlieconstruction shown in iii. 1

and 2. Fig. dis-an. enlarged detail view trating the gear train. big. 5a dot sectional. view oi? the clrictional driving core nection by whichundue orexcessi've strains are; automatmally compensated. F g. 6

vice forming the designed especially for cutting oft" the :tuel

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a top. plan View of the assembledapparatus.

Like parts are indicated by similar charactors oi reference throughoutthe several views.

"While the automatic valve subject matter hereof Was supply at theend ofa predetermined operating period, to the garbage and refuse incineratordisclosed in co-pending application SerialNoB l-diitld, it is capable orgeneral application. ltniay be employed not only as a cut oil", but alsoby a mere reversal of the valve operating lever or of the movable valveelement, forthe purpose of turning such valve on. in addition to itsusein con nection with the incinerator referred to, it

[may boidilized to cut oil the fuel supply to a gas range, at the end ofa predetermined cooking period, or may be used to reducethe fuel supplyto, a furnace, after a preliminary preheating period. Likewise it may beutilized to turn on a fuel supply Where a operating depilot burner isemployed, for thepurpose o'lf starting a cooking operation at a predetenmined time or for turning upthe fuel supply to a furnace at'anearly-morning hour a provide a gravity operating mechanism Which Willobviate the necessity for springs or Winding mechanism, and toturtherproy vide improved driving means wherebythe Without attention.The device will likewise find wide range of use in themechanical orindustrial. arts for the regulation of annealingovens or in the heattreatment of metals. The device may be applied not only to. gas lines,but also to steam pipes for turning steam on or ottaftcr a predeterminedinterval of time and left Without further.

attention. The apparatus is not only capable of use as a valve operatingmeans, but may be utilizec as a time controlled operator for an electricswitch. lit may be utilized dampers which ordinarily are left open foran interval of time after supplying fresh fuel. The present device maybe made toset the dampers after any predetermined preliminary combustionperiod. The appa *atus may be'lilreWise utilized for shifting belts, oroperating clutch into orout of driving engagement or for other analogouspurfor the automatic regulation of furnace poses. In view of the iderange of usefulv ness, the device is to be understood as not limited touse as an automatic cut oil for valves, and the application of: thedevice to a valve as shown in the drawings is to be considered onlyillustrati e of the operation, and in no sense as limiting the apparatusto such use.

The apparatus is gravity operated under the influence of a descendingweight. The apparatus is set and energy supplied by lilting; the weightto different heights in accordance w t the desired time interval, whichshall elapse before the operation of. the valve or other mechanism. Bythe corn structiou disclosed, the use of springs is eliminated, as isalso the necessity for winding; or charging, and the possibility oftailure to operate by the exhaustion of power in a mid-stroke position,obviated.

In the application of the invention di closed in the drawings 1 is asuoply pipe for water or steam, having therein acoutrol crc'ut elf valve2. The apparatusv forming the subject matter hereof may be mount ed orsupported in vany suitable way in proximity to the valve 2. Forconvenience, it has been shown carried upon a supporting bracketcomprising a halved sleeve 3, clamped upon the pipe line 1. As shown inthe drawing the supporting bracket en- (closes the Tcoupling 4c of anauxiliary fuel supply line 5, which supplies a pilot burner. It will beunderstood that this is not an es sential feature of the invention, butis shown. merely for illustra ive purposes. The

"halved sleeve is clamped in place by theclamp bolts 6. However, toinsure against rotat1on,-the-end of the sleeve is preferably termed witha polygonal recess in which i engaged-one of the hexagonal heads of thecontrol or out off valve 2. The upper half or the bracket sleeve 3carries an upstanding flange 7 with which is engaged the main frameplate 8. The lower half of the bracket 3 isprovided with aprojectingstop arm 9, which arrests the weighted actuating arm at the limit of itsmovement.

Theoperative parts or the mechanism a e carried upon the opposite sideofthe vertical main frame plate 8. Secured to the outer face of theframeplate 8 is a housing or gear cover ill), in which is formedabearingfor one end or the pivot or trunnion stud 11. upon which is pivoted forfree oscillatory movement the weig .tet. actuatinu arm or pendulum Thiswe ting; arm 12 is mounted within. the housing or cover 10 is also anactuated ratchet wheel ite-d a c 1 1*). lhe ratchet wheel 13 is alsomounted upon the PlVO J'Oi trunnion stud. 1.1 and is interconnected withthe primary gear 14 oi. the speed governing mechanism upon the oppositeside of the ."frame .plate 8. Interposed between the ratchet wheel 13and. the primary gear M, is a spacer collar l5 extending thru a suitableopening; in the "frame plate 8, and fixedly connected with the ratchetwheel 1 and primary gear 14; by means of transverse srrews 1(5. 'llheroustruetion is such that the ratchet wheel 13 and primary gear 1 Lrotate in unison under the influence ot the weighted actuating arm 12 ashereafter described upon. the bearing allorded. by the intermediatecolla l5 within the frame plate 8. The pivotal trunnion stud 11.projects thru a central bore l? in the interengagged ratchet and gearwheels 13 and 14%. and may be fixedly engaged lor rotation in unisontherewith, or may be loosely journalled therein whereby the said wheelsrotate independent of the trunnion stud which is supported at one end inthe gear housing 10, the other end being engaged .11 the frame plate 21.This cmmcction is not material and either of the alternative comstruelions may be employed. 'lhe actuating arm 12 carries a pivotedweighted pawl 18. pivoted to said arm at l9, and adapted to engage thteeth of the ratchet wheel 13. The pawl 18 is held in euuau cincut withthe ratchet r-Jhcel 17 duringhe uukratingr interval by the weightedportion 20 o l such pawl. which tends to swing): the pawl about itspivot toward the ratchet .rheel l3. There is thus provided. a drivingengagement between the weighted arm 12 and the ratchet wheel 13 whichtends to rotate the wheel 3% and with it the primary gear ll of the governing frame the weighted arm 12 de see-eds under the influence ol'gravity. 'lo govern the movement or the actuatinp arm and retard it to apredetcrlninml 'l'imcd ratio. a gear train loads from the primary gearl-l. to a flutter scapement. To support such gear element there areprovided. aurciliarv frame plates 21 and 252;. carried upon studs 23,and separated one from the other and from the main frame plate 8 byinterposed spacers The relation o l those a liury plates such that theprimary ar ll is positioned intermediate the innm'most auxiliary frameplate 21 and the main l'rnmo plate 8, where it meshes with a gear pinionQ 5 fixedly mounted upon a shalt 2i) journalled in the main frame plate8 and the outer auxiliary 'l'ramr plzu'r "here is also carried by thisshaft 16 :1 lrictiouallv driven pyar' 2i] .iI iP p r:': ul bctwrvu a rition driving; head QM srcurml upon the all." N 9/6 by meam: of :2 ll'illltal'il'b l pin tif r o5 be! suitable means and an zuliuvg'ublel'rii-iion plate 50 keyed upon the shal at and adjustable toward thehead 28 under the influence of an adjusting not ill screw threaded uponthe shaft The near clement E37 may thus be clamped between theLtlQlilUillH 28 and 30 with more or less pressure where by it may yield.under excessive driving l cover-hing train and escapement mechanism hasbeen-here shown and described for illusstrains or undue resistance, toprevent breakage. The governing gear train may lee or any extent orinvolve any desiredspeed reduction or gear ratio. as illustrated in thedrawings the trictionally driven gear element 2? intermeshes with a gearpinion 32 interconnected with a larger gear 33. The gear in turnintermeshes with a gear pinion 3d rotating in unison with a major gearelement 35. The latter gear in turn intermeshes with a succeeding pinion36 which carries a major gear element 37. The last mentionedgear 3'7intermeshes with a pinion 38 to which is connected the escapeinentratchet gt) engaged by the pallets 4O ot'an anchor eseapeinentcomprising the oscillator 4:1 andfflutter plate or vane 4:2. Thistrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that any other form oispeed governing device may be utilized. For instance, a frictional orbrake mechanism, a centrifugal governor or acounter balancing weightmight be substituted Without changing the operation nor the resultaccomplished.

For guidance in setting the mechanism for various time intervals beforefinal operation one edge of the main traineplate S has been shown ofarcuate :torm concentrio with the centeroif operation or? the ac.

tuating arm 12, and is provided witha series of graduations 413indicating units oi: time. A. po nter s; carried by the actuatin arm 12coacts with the graduations 43. By litlt in the wei 'hted arm 12 manuall7 until the i 1 b l C :5

pointer l agrees with the graduation corresponding to the desired timeinterval and releasing the arm the mechanism will operate thru theindicated period before tripping the Valve or other operated device. Asshown in the drawing-s the time value of the. graduations increaseupwardly whereby the higher the. arm 12 is elevated in setting themeehanisn'i thelonger will he the time intervalbefore it reaches thetripping point. In the event that thru acciiil ent tl ear-m "12iselcvated above the desirerlf indicationor ii. it is found that thetime intel-val has been over estimateih the. actuat ingr arm may hereadjusted. by manually tripping the pawl. in by olevatii1 the weightedQLHii llGITtUi and allowing it to i'i-ieixgra fe the ratchet wheel.lilnt a. lower point; l l owevi-n' should the operator merelypress downthe ting: arm; no harm will he done since the l'rictionally driven gearelement 27 will yield, to protect the esca mment.

The apparatus haying;- heen sa th;- the manual elevation o l theactuating! arm i2 this weighted. arm will upon reh mi; rredu- :1 llydescend at a slow rate o. and under control of the governingreari-iainand escapement. As the acti'za arm reaches the zero point ofthe scale in it or in istalze the frame oiate 8 concentric with and.be-.

40 neath the ratchet wheel id.

The en l ient of the roller or stud 4:5 with the cam her 46 oscillate-sthe pawl 18 out of QTIHQIHGUh with the ratcl'ietwheel 125 the yreleasing: the weighted actuating arm 12 irom the control of the i. T trin and. escapeniient. This release of the actuating arm occurs when tlarm is in a position son'iewhat above a forty live degree angle. Thecontrol valve 2, elec tric switch or other operated device is pro- Videdwith an oscillatory lever at? which projects into the path of travel oi?the actuatingarm 12. As the weighted. arm 12 is disengauged from thecontrol mechanism and falls under the influence of gra 'ty it on ace theoperating arm or lever 41?. arm downward with it; thus tran r the armand parts connl' ed 'hi partial rotation. JEhSi show the operated arm orieve r -17 is actuated the weighted arm 12 thru a quarter rot: ion froma substantially horizontal position to a substantially verticalposition.- lt is ohvious that this arm or lever may he notes thru asomewhat greater or a less degree oi? movement. At the limit oi.movement the weighted arm 12 arrested hy the stop arm 9 carried by thesupporting brackets 3, where:

it remains until manually For the next operation.

he connected with the pivoted arm 4? or this arm may be utilized as theprimary element of a belt shifting; mechanism, a damner operating;means, a clutch control device or other analogous mechanism.

l l hile the pawl and ratchet connection oi. the actuatirn;v arm withthe governing train is the ureter-red embodiment: oit'l". ventiom it isolwior that oit-lier cone. one may he emplo reijl which will i'tord ana-uto matic release ol the arm l2 the predetermined. point in its pathoi? travel, its an illustration oi"? such inoditicat ioin there is shownin .l ie'. (i a-l etail \iiew oil a mutilated near do ce which willotl'ozd the desires" snll In this constrlwtioii a gear pinion 50 issuhstitn For the o chet whcel iii. in lieu oi pivo no; the M r up;iii-oi i515 upon.

the trunnion stud, ll the arm is piTUliQil. in offset or eccentricrelation thee-ee and is rigidly connected with a gear sector 51.. Theteet 1 oil which. mesh wi h the of). The

series oi? are lim ted to ""neshino' :u'ti u it is obvious that thecontacting elements or an electric switch or circuit breaker m y of thecharacter described claim the prime nt ,moveinent whereby the that shownin o the principle involved or secrinemf ence of gravity. In settingthis device the arm is pullel upward in the previous ."ruction whichcauses the teeth oil? the sector to intermesh with those of the pinionand drives the pinion temporarily in reverse direction during thereceding operation. This reversal the pinion 50 is transmitted thru theentire governing t ain, or is compensated for by the sll Jase or thereactionery driven element 27. in arm 1?? having been raised to the desed height is released and ther ter ope s oy influ nce of gravity thru "2e or 51 to drive the pinion 5O the train until the end of the series ofsector teeth is reached. l'l hile a sector l as teen shown, it

or one hovbe llidlZQil. in the event that the gear n cion .e less ti isobvious that e mutilated peer ing several teeth removed may Likewise isof sutlicient size that i one revoluti during 9 pinion 50 wybeinutilzned v removal of teeth toe eet the roles se elf the arm. Theletter" construction if merely :1 r-versel ot and hence will be obviousWithout illust :ition.

From the above description it vsill parent that there is tons provideparticular features of enumerated as desirable but which obvious yproportions, detail consruetion its advantages.

While in order to comply the invention has been described i" more orless specific struei it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the specific det ls shown that the means endconstruetionherein oisclosed comprise but one ot several modes of putting theinvention into enect, and the in vention is therefore clarinet in env ofits forms or modifications .Tlelllil iimote the le and valid scope ofthe eopended e aims.

'luving thus described my invention, 1

1. In a time co trolled actuating mechanism o'l the character describech'ity opera-ted prme mover a member to he oper- J1 path of trovel or sand:tted QXlLen o into the prime mover 2i governor tardingg: the movementof prime mover through at portion. of its tre v under the influence ofgravity, means For interengm ing; ver and governor mecheni .i inditierent relations for different predete mined degrees of controlledmovement, and means tor automatically discoi nect uo prime mover fromthe governing me? :tore it has reached the limit oi its range ofremainder or its L all e movement is etlected at an accele utod speedsaid member to be operated being engaged. by the prime movr through an:ulditionnl degree of movement.

2. in a time controlled actuat ng mechanism of the character described.:1 gravity operated prime mover, go: rning 111M118 lor retarding theprogress of the prime mover during the initial period of its travel,variable clutch means for engaging the prime move and governing means indiiierent rclutions means for disconnecting the governing means at s.predetermined point in the path of travel, said prime mover halving 1rvariable range ot movement prior to such disen ugement. means forpredetcrminlog the vei ible degree of retarded movement.

and u nemb Jr to be operated extemlinn; into the path of travel ot thegravity operated priiie'mover and engaged thereby durimr itsunrestrained linnl movement utter being disengaged em the governingmeans.

3. In a t me controllec actuating: mocha nism at gravity operated primemovclg :1 governing mechanism for retarding; the progress of the primemover during: on initial portion of its travel means tor uuhnnoticellydisenggu ring; the prime mover with the governing means at u predcl'ermned point in its path of truvel, an adjustable detent by which saidprime mover is engugeziblc with the governing means ditlerent measureddistances in uevaiice of said point of (lisengugrement and e member tobe operated (J-ill(l1(ll11 into the path of travel of the prime moverend actuated thereby during the UUICHll'lIlIL ed tinsl movement thereofsubsequent to its diseirnxgement from the governing means.

.1 at time controlled actuating mechanism e. 'avity operetd lever, aregulated vvheel rotating always in the some direction with which thelever is concentrically pivoted, means for detochnbly engaging: thelever a member to be actuated ated thereby quent toits release from thegoverning means at different elevations,

means for disengaging said prime mover at a predetermined point 111 ltspath oi travel, the elevation oi the point of engagement above the pointof disengagement being variable to; determine the time interval oiloperatlon, and a member to be actuated which is engaged by theprimemover sub sequent to its disengagement.

7. In a time controlled actuating mechanism, a weighted swinging arm, aratchet wheehgoverning means controlling the rota tion oi" the wheel, apawl carried by the arm and engageable with the ratchet wheel in variousradial posltions, means for disengaginn" said pawl at a predeterminedmid-stroke position, and lLIIlQlZlbBl to be actuated enby a the arm whenreleased trom the wheel;

8. ln a time controlled valve operating I mechanism, the combinationwith a valve an operating member therefor, a swinging; arm into the pathof travel of which the valve operating member extends, said. parts beingindependent of each other, means :lior retarding the swinging movementof said arm for predetermined periocs of time, in-

,cluding a governor mechanism for move ment in unison, cam in the pathof travel of the detent by engagement with which the detent isdisengagedfrom the governing means to release the arm for swinging engbragementwith the valve operating mem- 9. In a time controlled valve operatingmechanism, the: combination with a member to be operated and anoperatinp;- member therefor, of weighted member into the path of whichthe operating member eXt-ends,t1me

controlled governing means actuated by the weighted member andtemporarily control ling the movement thereof, said weighted ,memberhemp; released after varying ore determined intervals of time toreleasesaid we ghted member for engagement with the valve operatingmember,

10. In a time controlled actuating mechanism of the character described,the combination with a member to be actuated, and a movable operatingmember therefor, ol a time governor, a gravity operated actuator intothe path of travel of which the ope ling member. extends, said gravityoperaced actuator also furnishing the motive power lor said governor, areleasable detent for cngaging said actuator in diiderent positions atedand a movable operating member there tor, of a swinging weighted arm, aconcern trlc tlme controlled member with which the arm is detachablyengageable in different radial positions, detent for so engaging saidarm and time controlled member, a

stop engaged bysaid detent upon the unison movement of said arm and timecontrolled member to a predetermined position, by

which the detent is withdrawn to release the arm, said arm upon releasebeing adapted to impinge upon and operate said movable operating member.

12. lln a device of the character described, the combination with memberto actuated, of a gravity operated actuator therefor, a time controlledmember, a detent for interenqaging the actuator and time con- "trolledmember in dill erent relative positions oi adjustment to predeterminediiierentperiods of time prior to the moment of release, and a stopmember tor releasing the detent when the actuator and time controlledmember havemoved in unison to a predetermined point, whereupon thegravity operated actuator in its free movement will impinge upon andoperate said member to be actuated,

, 13. In a device of the character described,

, the combination with a member to be actulted, of a gravity operatedactuator therefor, a timecontrolled member with which said actuator isdetachably engageable, governor means connected therewith, and atriotionable driving connection between the governor and time controlledmember by which the actrzator and. time controlled member may beadjusted independent oil the govern norv i l. ln a device of thecharacter described, the combination with a member to be actuated, of agravity operated actuator there- "for, a time controlled member withwhich id actuator detachably engageable, overnor means eonnectedtherewith, ano a yielding connection intermediate, the not ernor andactuator peimitt q Flt/TESS,

In testimony whereof l have hereunto set lt itnesses Anrrorn ltarz,Giro. L. @AMEBELL.

independent movement oi the latter under abnormal

